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A monk asked Master Kaku of Roya,
"If the essential state is pure and clear, then why do mountains, rivers and the
great earth arise?"
Kaku said,
"If the essential state is pure and clear, then why do mountains, rivers and the
great earth arise!"

WHY indeed!

Sometimes what appears a QUESTION is truly an AFFIRMATION!

HOW you ask ... And WHY ...

I touch a bit on Alice and the Chesire Cat and some WHERE ...

Cheshire Puss,' [Alice] began, ... `Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
`I don't much care where--' said Alice.
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
`--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
`Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'". ...

THAT'S WHY!

... and Dogen playing the WHAT of What is this that thus comes?, words spoken by the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng.

So, that's WHAT's WHAT! ... WHO's WHO ...

... WHEREFORE WHYFORE WHENFORE ...

... HOW 'bout that!

TODAY'S TALK (ABOUT 30 MINUTES) WAS PART OF OUR MONTHLY ZAZENKAI, AND IS FOLLOWED BY A SHORT PERIOD OF ZAZEN and KINHIN

Re: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: WHAT'S WHAT

Jundo,
This was amazing, Thank you....

The last two minutes in which you tied it all together was very helpful. Why do things happen? Do things happen.... things happen....

It is our nonacceptance of the things that happen that cause suffering. Our minds attempt all sorts of rationalizations rather than rest in the acceptance of things that "arise" or happen.... I suppose the mind's search for an explanation is a manifestation of the ego... an expression of the hurt self... "I am hurting because my wife left me..." Wives leave... that is life... we are no more special than the next person.... letting go of the self to relinquish the explanations that justify our guilt, our misery, our separateness from other beings and the flow of life, etc. is very difficult... the ego clings .... the emptiness, or should I say lack of dialogue or narrative that accompanies the justification of self is difficult to become accustomed to. I am so used to the self-identified chatter/static that the spaces in between, the silence, makes me wonder who I am..... Who am I? Who... who is there to be afraid? Who is there to be angry? Who is angry... Who...

Re: SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: WHAT'S WHAT

Jundo,

I like what you said in the end about how the answer to what, why, when or who is beyond words. Personally, I feel that I get frustrated when trying to comprehend some Buddhist koans and literature because I am trying to answer it in a logical or academic way. Compartmentalize....check...got that answered...next. Perhaps not really understand fully.